Ridley Scott confirms Blade Runner sequel will be his next

We were all surprised to learn earlier this year that Ridley Scott would return to the world of Blade Runner, although it was unclear at the time whether it would be a prequel, sequel or some other tangential film set in the same universe. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal (via Collider), Scott confirms that the film will be his next and is “liable to be a sequel”.

Scott, who has recently wrapped shooting on a new sci-fi film called Prometheus, indicates that the film is closer than we think. “I think I’m close to finding a writer that might be able to help me deliver. We’re quite a long way in, actually.” He adds that we won’t see any of the characters from the original film, as the project is “not with the past cast, of course”.

The original Blade Runner film was inspired by the Philip K Dick novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, and created a futuristic world in which detective Deckard, played by Harrison Ford in the 1982 film, hunted down and terminated lifelike androids known as replicants. Misunderstood at the time, the film has undergone several edits over the years and is now considered to be one of the classics of the genre.

At the time of the original announcement, producer Andrew Cosgrove noted to the LA Times that we are unlikely to see a film that is a direct sequel to the original film. “In no way do I speak for Ridley Scott…but if you’re asking me will this movie have anything to do with Harrison Ford, the answer is no. This is a total reinvention, and in my mind that means doing everything fresh, including casting.”

This is one story we will be following very closely, and in the meantime we have Scott’s Prometheus to look forward to in June 2012.